


Baby Blues

by triflingthings



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:15:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22279270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/triflingthings/pseuds/triflingthings
Summary: James Potter talks to the pretty redhead every day while getting his morning coffee, so of course he’s more than a little concerned when she stops coming altogether.
Relationships: James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	Baby Blues

**Monday, Jan. 13th**

It was bloody freezing outside. So freezing, in fact, that James was almost one hundred percent positive that the tip of his nose was going to freeze over and chip off like the icicle above his front door. His breath was coming in visible puffs in front of his face as he rubbed his palms together to form some friction. Luckily, his destination was mere steps away.

The Leaky Cauldron was a quaint little place that made the best damn coffee in all of Britain. James was almost positive about that one. But, truth be told, the coffee wasn’t why James kept returning to the shop. No, his reasoning came in the form of a petite redhead with a fiery attitude that James was undeniably attracted to. He couldn’t tell her, though, because three weeks ago he found out that she was in a relationship with someone by the name of Evan. James once made a joke along the lines of ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if husbands took the surname of their wives and you two ended up getting married and he became Evan Evans?’. (She didn’t laugh.) James hated Evan Evans, or whatever his last name really was. He was always the reason for Lily having to leave in a hurry, claiming that she had work to do. But James knew. How could he not, when he had (accidentally) seen his name flash across her phone more than once, signaling the end of their conversations. Of course, that wouldn’t be a viable reason for James to hate the man that he had never met, but the panic in Lily’s eyes every time she saw his name on her phone screen was. He was absolutely smitten with the woman, so of course he’d want her to be happy. And _safe_.

But James would take what he’d been given, and he was more than grateful for even a moment’s conversation with her. And he wanted to say something to her about Evan, he did, but what if he was wrong and Lily never wanted to speak to him again? He had no real evidence to back up his claim and therefore couldn’t even make one to her. It pained him, but it wasn’t his business. Lily’s a strong woman; she can handle herself just fine.

This Monday was no different than any other day. Lily was sitting in her small corner at the back of the shop in a small loveseat, looking seemingly cozy with a book and the citrus mint tea that she always drank. James looked at her from the window for a moment before walking in. He grinned in spite of himself and felt his cheeks heating up just from the sight of her. She was bloody beautiful, no one could deny it. Her hair was in a loose knot on the top of her head and a few wispy bangs hung in her eyes, to which she huffed a breath to remove them.

He was a goner. James rolled his eyes at himself and walked into the café, ordering his drink before making his way towards her. She didn’t look up from her book until her eyes were done skimming the page, though a smile formed on her lips. When she finally did meet his eyes, James was, once again, in awe of their color. _People shouldn’t be allowed to have eyes like that_ , he thought. They were a different level of green, and always seemed to pierce straight through his skull in the best way. Her smile was bright and formed flutters in his stomach. Once again, he was a goner.

”G’morning, James,” she said in a light tone. God, even her voice did something to him.

After a moment too long of staring at her as if she hung the moon, he replied, “Evening, Evans.” He blushed as he realized it was not, in fact, the evening. “Morning, I mean. Morning, Evans.”

She grinned, small but there nonetheless. Her eyebrow quirked, as if challenging him to say another idiotic thing. James blushed even further and took a seat across from her. Immediately, she dove into an overview of the book she was reading, as per usual. As often as she does it, James still adores listening to her talk about, well, anything.

”And it’s one of the first books that I’ve ever read that doesn’t romanticize situations like this! It’s just a nice change, you know?” James did not know, but something about the way that Lily Evans talked to him seemed to make him.

”Agreed, Lily. You know, Sirius recommended this book called _Beloved_ and it was bloody fantastic. I can bring you my copy. If you’d like, that is.” James scratched the back of his neck, once again getting flustered by her mere presence. 

Lily slightly bit her bottom lip, attempted to hide her smile. She nodded, and finally let her smile slip free. “I would like that James, thank you.” James could’ve been mistaken, but he could have sworn that they had a connection just then. Staring into each other’s eyes for slightly longer than necessary, he was sure that he could feel something, and was sure that she felt it too.

But of course, it ended due to _Evan bloody Evans_. Her phone, which was lying face up on the table, began buzzing sporadically and James noticed his name pop up on the screen. He also noticed the small look of panic and slight annoyance cross her features.

”Sorry, James, I’ve got to run. Work and school and.. stuff,” she looked apologetic, but James knew that she wasn’t being truthful. It wasn’t uni or her job or anything related to that. No, it was Evan. God, James hated him more than she probably should.

”Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about it. I’ll see you around, yeah?”

She looked slightly relieved that he wasn’t pressing for more information and gave him a curt nod and a small smile, making her way out of the shop.

James sighed and deflated in the cushioned seat. He was done for.

. . .

**Tuesday, Jan. 28th**

Over the course of the next two weeks, James and Lily met and conversed regularly in their small corner. But every day, Lily had to leave in a hurry, always claiming that school or work had been extremely hectic as of late. But James knew, he always knew, and he always waved it off as if he understood.

Today was no different, at first glance. James looked at Lily from the window for a moment before walking inside, as he always did. But today, she didn’t have a muffin or croissant sitting next to her tea like she usually did, and she was hunched over in what seemed to be a rather uncomfortable position. James was concerned, but simply drew is eyebrows together and walked inside.

Lily Evans was pale. And not the type of pale that she usually is. Today, her face was void of all color, save for the slight shade of green that seemed to overcome her features every few moments. She didn’t seem to notice James approach their corner and continued to hunch over with her eyes squeezed shut.

”Lily?” James asked, setting his hand on her shoulder gently. He was slightly worried she would vomit from any movement, but she opened her eyes gently and looked at him. A wobbly smile graced her face.

”Morning, James,” was all she said.

James looked at her with concern in his eyes. “Lily, are you alright? No offense, but you look bloody awful.” 

Lily scoffed. “Gee, thank you so much. You’re far too kind.”

James hurriedly tried to fix his mistake, not wanting to risk Lily being angry at him and opting for ignoring him altogether. “I- That- That’s not what I meant. I just mean, you look like you feel a little ill, is all.”

”That’s because I do, though I suppose it’s probably just a bug. It’s going around and all of the kids have it, so I wouldn’t be surprised.” Lily worked at a preschool, so it was believable. She continued, “I felt like this yesterday morning, too, though I usually feel much better the longer the day goes on. I can just pick up some medicine on the way back home and I should be perfectly fine.”

James shrugged, not understanding how she could just shrug it off. Every time James got sick, he forced Sirius to do everything for him, claiming that it was the end of his life. Sirius always rolled his eyes, but complied in the end. 

”Do you need anything right now? I could always run next door and grab something,” he offered. He internally rolled his eyes at himself, because she probably that it was so weird that he was offering. He didn’t want to come off too pushy, though he felt like he was doing just that. 

Lily waved her hand in the air. “No, no of course not. Don’t worry about me, I’ll survive. I should run though, I feel like I need a fourteen hour nap.”

This time, James did understand her reasoning for leaving, and didn’t feel a flare of hatred for a man that he had never met. “Of course, sorry for keeping you. I hope you feel better Lily, truly.”

”You didn’t!” Lily bursted out, but quickly regained her composure. “I mean, you didn’t. Had to get my tea anyway, so don’t worry. And thank you James, I’ll see you soon?”

James smiled, his glasses slipping down his nose. “Of course, Lils. See you soon.”

She grinned at the nickname and made her way out of the café, offering him a small wave as she did.

He was _so_ fucking gone.

. . .

**Wednesday, Jan. 29th**

Lily Evans was not in her usual spot. In fact, she wasn't there at all. James walked past the coffee shop, not even bothering to enter. There simply wasn't a point.

. . .

**Thursday, Jan. 30th**

Lily didn't show. Again.

. . .

**Sunday, March 1st**

Today marked the thirty-second day since James had seen Lily. He was going mad and had taken to either sulking or pacing around his flat, much to Sirius's dismay. Sirius returned home that afternoon to find James sitting at their bar, head lying on his arms.

"Oh for _fuck's_ sake, mate, come off it," he exclaimed, slamming the bag of groceries onto the counter. "She's just a girl, who has a boyfriend, by the way."

James scowled at his best friend, pushing away from the bar. "No, she's not 'just a girl' Sirius. I'm pretty positive that I'm bloody in love with her and I don't know what to do about it! And not to mention that I haven't seen her in thirty-two days and counting. I'm going bloody bonkers just thinking about it," he told him, his eyes practically bugging out of his head. 

Sirius grabbed him by the back of the sweater, pulling him off of the bar stool. He looked James dead in the eye, the most stern he had ever seen him. "Well, let's go then. You said she's going to uni at Oxford, right?" James nodded. "Great! So is Remus, meaning that he probably knows someone who knows someone who knows her. It sounds stalkerish, but I'm sick and bloody tired of you moping around all day."

James was too stunned to say anything, but nodded quickly and headed to the door. Twenty minutes later, they were knocking on the door of Sirius's boyfriend's flat. James had met Remus only a time or two, considering he and Sirius had only just become official, but he thought that he was a pretty decent bloke. He made Sirius happy, which in turn made James automatically like him. 

Remus opened the door and, though he looked confused at the sight of James, smiled brightly when he saw Sirius. Before he could speak, though, Sirius beat him to it. "My mate here needs your help. Do you know a Lily Evans? Bright red hair, green eyes, really pale?"

Remus, still looking slightly confused, nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, she's in my history lecture. Actually, I'm about to head over to her flat to bring her the assignments that she's missed."

James perked up after hearing this, as did Sirius. The latter spoke before the former had the chance. "Brilliant! We need to go with you. Actually, we need you to give James the papers so he can go to her door like the stalker bitch that he is." James shot him a dirty look, but didn't reply.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Let me just grab my coat. She only lives about a block from here, so we'll just walk," Remus replied, grabbing his jacket and closing the door. He and Sirius led the way, holding hands. If it wasn't for James's predicament, he probably would have internally 'awe'd'. Instead, he was almost positive that he was going to break out in hives from his nerves. What was he going to say? _Hey Lily, I know that it's totally weird that I've showed up at your place of residence despite you never ever telling me where you live, and I know that it's also totally weird that I have your schoolwork even though I don't go to your uni. Also, I'm very in love with you. Fancy a drink?_ There was no way that he wasn't going to massively fuck this up.

James was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't realize that they had walked straight into her building. James paled, immediately panicking. "Oh god, guys I really can't do this. I think that I'm gonna piss myself."

Sirius rolled his eyes, spinning around and facing him. "Oh shut up, will you? You've been going on about this girl for months. You're tall, dark, and handsome and there's absolutely no way that she isn't interested in you too. So just go up there and tell her. And if you don't, I'm kicking you out in the balls and out of the flat."

James swallowed and nodded, rolling his shoulders back and walking towards the elevator. During the ride up, he practiced what he was going to say to Lily. He was simply going to tell her how he feels, apologize for potentially ruining their friendship, and probably throw up at her feet out of nerves. _Yeah, I've got this_ , he thought. 

He did not, in fact, have this. This was proved by the clamminess of his palms once the elevator doors opened. Her flat was only three doors down from the elevator, but James paced outside for no less than ten minutes? What if he really did throw up? What if she told him she never wanted to see him again? What if Evan Evans turned out to be some kind of pro wrestler and beat him to a pulp? There were so many ways that this could go wrong, so many in fact that James nearly turned around and walked back to the elevator, only stopping himself once he realized just how much teasing he’d have to put up with from Sirius. Not worth it.

He blew out a breath and knocked on her door. Just three simple taps of his knuckles, but James had never been more scared. 

Lily opened the door, wearing a large Oxford sweatshirt and a pair of joggers. Her face was slightly splotchy and puffy, almost as if she had been crying beforehand. James thought she was bloody spectacular.

”Rem-,” she cut herself off rather quickly, looking extremely confused. “James? Wha- What are you doing here?”

James immediately turned into a babbling mess, launching into an explanation that most likely made no sense. “Look, I know that I definitely seem like a stalker since you never even told me where you live, but I promise that I’m not. My best mate Sirius’s boyfriend is Remus and Sirius said that he’s sick of seeing me moping around all day because I haven’t seen you in so long so he had Remus give me your work to bring to you. I just really miss you Lily, and I really, really like you. I’m so sorry if this makes things weird or makes you never want to see me again, but I had to tell you. And if Evan is a pro wrestler, please don’t make him beat me up,” James winced at the end, because saying it out loud made him realize how truly absurd it was. 

Lily’s eyes were the size of saucers, and they looked slightly misty. She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. “James, can you come inside?”

He nodded, taking it as a bad sign that she didn’t seem to reciprocate his feelings. His hands were shaking at his sides so badly that he had to stuff them into his pockets to stop her from noticing. 

Her apartment was exactly what he expected of Lily Evans. Small but open, with sunlight filtering in everywhere, making everything have a golden hue. It was cozy, but James was sure that it had something to do with the vast amount of beautiful art hanging the walls. Walking by, he noticed that her name was scrawled at the bottom. _Of course she’s a great artist_ , he thought. _What isn’t she good at?_

"You can sit, if you'd like," Lily said, gesturing toward her sofa. He did, and she took a seat beside him, angling herself to face him. She sighed and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. James could tell she was nervous, but for what, he had no idea.

"James, I'm pregnant."

Well, he wasn't expecting that. He expected her to laugh and tell him that she's kidding, that she was just trying to break the ice, but she didn't. In fact, she looked terrified, as if he was going to run out of the flat and never look back. His mouth hung agape for a few moments as he tried to piece together a response. "I- Huh? You're what?"

"Pregnant, James. I'm pregnant. That's why I haven't been at the Leaky in so long. Evan took off the moment that I told him, so I've been trying to figure out what in the bloody hell I'm going to do," she told him, exasperated. _Of course he did_ , James thought. He hated the bastard more than ever before. "I'm three months, almost four. It was right before I started to suspect that Evan was cheating, which he was, come to find out. I put off even figuring out for myself because I was so bloody scared. I mean, I _like you_ , James, but I thought that if there was any chance you liked me too, it would be ruined when you found out. Which it probably is, come to think of it."

James's eyes widened massively, and his hands shot out to cover hers. "No! Of course not, Lils. That would never stop me from feeling anything for you."

She looked relieved, a visible weight being lifted off of her shoulders. She chewed on her lower lip, glancing down at his hands on top of hers. "You.. You don't think I'm a slag? For being pregnant with another man's child and confessing my feelings for you?"

 _A slag? Lily Evans, a slag? Was that even possible?_ James wasn't a slut-shamer in any instance, and this one was no different. He looked at her incredulously, unsure of how to even put it into words how wrong she was.

So instead, he kissed her. It was soft and slow and passionate, James releasing all of his pent up feelings and Lily doing the same. Somewhere during the kiss Lily started crying. Or maybe it was James. Or maybe it was both of them. Either way, James was over the moon. This definitely was not what he was expecting, but how could he complain? He was kissing Lily bloody Evans, for Christ's sake. When they pulled back, Lily looked up at him through her lashes. "I'll take that as a no, I suppose?" They both let out a breathy laugh and grinned at the other.

"No, Evans, I do not think you're a slag. I think you're bloody brilliant, and beautiful, and intelligent. And I think you're going to be the best mother." Lily smiled at that, a genuine, marvelous thing. She kissed him again, threading her fingers through his hair. It was short but heartfelt nonetheless. James grinned into it, pulling back and gently hauling Lily off of the couch.

"So Evans, fancy a tea?"

**Author's Note:**

> I realized as I finished this that it definitely does not go along with Harry's actual birthday, which I didn't even think about doing, but I'm far too tired to go back and change it, so I apologize. But please enjoy anyway, and leave a comment if you liked this idea!! I came up with it while sitting in my car before school and couldn't wait to get home and start writing :)


End file.
